Of Stars and Serendipity
by Songbird-on-a-rainy-day
Summary: She's broken. He's perfect. She's a muggleborn and he's a pureblood. Their worlds aren't even in the same galaxy, but that didn't stop them from exploding the universe.
1. Chapter 1

The room is a flurry of colours. There is nothing tangible here, nothing real. Just a mass of warm bodies, gyrating against her and robbing her of oxygen. But it all gives her something she can't get anywhere else. It makes her forget that she is anything but flesh and blood, driven by alcohol and pure will. That is what she wants to be. For now, Lily Evans will just be another girl at a club, trying to drown her heartbreak with firewhiskey.

Someone, just a shadow in the pulsating neon lights, presses up closer to her. Their hand wanders to places Lily wouldn't have normally wanted it to go.

Normal Lily wouldn't have let him touch her like that. Then again, she doesn't want to be Normal Lily. She wants to be a different Lily. Actually, she doesn't want to Lily at all. She just wants to be another girl, without regrets or worries or heart ache. Yes, that would be nice.

"What's your name darling?" A gruff voice says.

Lily-who's-not-really-Lily responds with a giggle. "Does it really matter?"

Apparently the stranger likes her response, because he places a big, sloppy kiss on her cheek. In the back of her mind, she knows that this is wrong. That this is the wrong way to go about forgetting _him, _but all traces of cognizance left her when she drained her first bottle of firewhiskey. Now, she's on her fifth and she's not quite sure whether she should stop or not. She doesn't want to though and tonight, it's all about her base desires.

Screw thinking. Thinking always brings back memories of things she'd rather not think about. It brings back the hurt in her chest and that feeling of betrayal. So Lily stops thinking and before she knows it, the night air is biting her exposed skin. There is the rough feel of bricks against her back, but she doesn't mind. The scratchy discomfort keeps her from thinking about that other kind of pain.

Her legs are being hoisted up against the stranger's waist, her neck being forced to the side so he can kiss it. Hungrily, sloppily, leaving a trail of saliva that drips unpleasantly onto her shirt. Something hard is poking against her hip and alarm bells go off in her head, but Lily ignores them. She wanted to be someone else. Now she is nothing. Now she is just a shell to be battered and used, to be pushed up against walls in the back of clubs.

All because of _him. _


	2. Chapter 2

10 months before –

The creaking of a swing echoed quietly down Churchill Avenue at dusk. It was the only sound on that warm summer evening, save for the wind whistling through the leaves and playing softly among the auburn tendrils of Lily Evans, the only person sitting outside on Churchill Avenue. Her green eyes flicked pensively across the battered pages of her favourite book – to anyone who did not know her, it would've seemed like she was oblivious to the world.

But James Potter did know her. Even from afar, he could see the way her fingers curled a little too tightly at the sides of her novel and the way she crossed and uncrossed her legs at regular intervals. The signs that she was in a bad mood were blatantly evident and not for the last time that evening, it occurred to him that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

_"It's too late to stop now." _He reminded himself, determinedly angling his broomstick to prepare for landing. Her eyes glanced up just then and an apprehensive chill ran through him. _"Much too late." _

To his surprise (to both their surprises) she didn't seem at all fazed by the fact that the one person she hated with a passion had just arrived seemingly out of nowhere in front of her home. She set down her book and tightened her blanket around her in anticipation of the awkward conversation she sensed was about to transpire. He, on the other hand, tried in vain to temporarily forget that she was the most gifted witch in their year and could probably hex him to Hogwarts and back.

"Evans." He greeted her with his customary grin, sliding off his broomstick with the mien of a practised Quidditch player.

She inclined her head in the direction of her house. "Dumbledore's in there right now."

He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed and instead opted for a slightly apathetic, nonchalant smile.

"So, you know?"

"Yes, Potter, I bloody know." Lily snapped, letting the frustration of the evening catch up with her. "And I'm not very happy about it and you shouldn't be either so stop bloody smiling. This isn't a good thing. This isn't another opportunity for you to antagonize me or hit on me. Just…"

She broke off with a sigh and stormed off into her house, slamming the front door as she did. A few seconds later, the door swung open again to reveal a tall, lanky old man dressed in robes of dark blue with a beard so long it brushed against the ground.

"I don't know what she has to be so mad about." James huffed, kicking at a rock underneath his foot.

"Give her time." Dumbledore advised.

"I don't see why she has to stay at my place."

The Professor smiled patiently at the boy in front of him. "You know perfectly well why."

A moment of silence ensued, occasionally broken by James' irritated muttering.

"How'd her family take it?" James finally asked, looking up just long enough to see a weary look flash behind Dumbledore's spectacles.

"Not as well as I had hoped, but better than I expected."

Just then, a shriek burst through the night. "I AM NOT STAYING AT SOME FREAK'S HOUSE. THIS ISN'T FAIR!"

"PETUNIA, COME BACK HERE."

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME."

Somewhere in the house, something shattered, a cat screeched and a door banged open.

"PETUNIA WOULD YOU SHUT UP!" Lily screamed out, shutting her door again.

A girl with mousy brown hair appeared at the doorway, her nostrils flaring comically with rage. She reddened at the sight of two "freaks" standing on the porch.

"What are you looking at?" She demanded rudely, before pushing past them and marching angrily down the street.

From what he had heard, James assumed that it was Petunia.

"Happy family, aren't they?" He remarked bemusedly and amusedly.

Dumbledore replied with a wry chuckle. "Quite."


End file.
